How does a trend become a trend? Does someone well-known have to start a trend for it to be noticed? What makes a trend “trendy?” Does it take a lot of people to set a trend?

As a person who doesn’t have social media, I wonder if it is possible to set a trend based simply on word of mouth.

As a student body, would it be possible to set a kindness trend? I’m sure at one point in everyone’s life, you notice something positive about somebody. You wish you could say something to compliment them, but in the end perhaps you were too embarrassed to compliment them. I want to know, is it possible to start a trend where we take action? It’s just a compliment. Why be embarrassed?

I don’t have social media, but I’ve seen and heard about some of the weird trends going on around. Stealing from bathrooms, dancing in stores, stealing from stores, dry scooping and the Devious Licks. These are just several of the past trends. I looked up some of the worst trends on TikTok: door kick challenge, fish tank challenge, Orbeez challenge, cha-cha challenge, blackout challenge, skull breaker challenge, etc. What is the world coming to? Some of these trends are illegal, not healthy and can be downright dangerous.

As a person without social media, it can sometimes be a good thing or a bad thing. Let’s start with the bad. Whenever I’m first meeting a person, their first question is, “Do you have any social media so I can follow you?”

When texting a friend, it takes longer for them to get to me. They say, “Do you have Snapchat? I use it more than text, so I’d get to you faster.”

I get news way slower than others and I don’t know any of the latest trends or dances. It’s harder to connect or even keep in contact with old friends, It’s also harder to get out there. Some good that comes out of not having social media is not having to deal with the toxicity – such as bullying, dangerous things leaking on to the internet, the like system/popularity system (if you don’t get a ton of likes you’re not popular), or political bias.

So why not set a positive trend, a kindness trend? It’s quite simple. Maybe you notice someone’s shoes, or hair or style, maybe you’ve seen them multiple times. It doesn’t have to be embarrassing. Just be brave and go for it, but don’t be rude. Be positive, maybe the person you’ve complimented will send it on and you can make that person’s day just a little better. Don’t be sarcastic about it, the point is positivity. It doesn’t matter who gets the most likes or who gets the most shares.

All that matters is the kindness you share, how many days you make better by just giving a small compliment. I encourage you to do your best, be as kind as you can be because you’d want to be treated the same by others, and don’t say something you wouldn’t want to hear yourself.

It’s nice to hear compliments, so why not give them? In return you might receive your own compliment. #BeKindTrendSettingLHS